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KILL FOR YOUR LOVE.

act three.

(chapter fifty-nine, i need to call finnick odair)

capitol train / victor's village, 73 ADD.

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SHE WAS GOING TO call Finnick Odair. Juniper had made a mental note in her head last night at the party to call him. The man from Four had decided to not go to the event that concluded Wade Rankine's Victory Tour and Juniper was slightly annoyed that he hadn't. He was the only person she had met that she considerably liked, the only person who, to some extent, could understand her and he wasn't there. 

Juniper Hale, nineteen-years-old, had met Finnick Odair last year when she was set to mentor for Ten. She was eighteen, he was twenty-one and whether it was because they had briefly seen each other after the Seventy-Second, they instantly clicked. She understood him to an extent, he understood her to an extent. They did not leave each other's sides for the rest of the Seventy-Third. Finnick Odair showed her the ropes of mentoring and in return, she clung onto him like he was an anchor. 

"Well... this year was a success!" 

The Hale girl snapped her head to the side to see Brent Higgins sauntering into the living area. He had a flask and glass in both hands, arms splayed out as he plopped himself down into one of the armchairs across from Juniper. He was drunk. She could see it in his eyes and she could practically smell it off of him. 

"How?" Juniper rolled her eyes. 

She couldn't, for the life of her, remember the tributes' names for the Seventy-Third. She could see their faces, she could remember every detail about them, but not their names. What were the names? 

Juniper knew the girl wasn't as important. She was a ditsy brat who spent her time insulting everyone around her and died during the bloodbath because she didn't listen. But the boy. What was his name? She couldn't remember. But what she did remember was that she had never seen him around Ten before. He was sixteen. He had two sisters, both younger. His father worked at the Milking Station. He liked oranges. He switched from holding his knife in his left hand to his right every meal. He tied a double-knot in one pair of laces, but not the other. And he looked exactly like— 

"Well, the boy came second!" Brent slurred as he leaned back into the armchair. He took turns from drinking from his flask and then his glass. "He was a runner-up... that is a win in my book." 

"He's still dead." 

"Oh, don't be so negative." Brent waved her away like a mere puff of smoke in the air. "It's good he came second. You won last year, that kid came second this year. That's never happened to an outlier district."

"But he's still dead." Juniper looked out of the window, seeing the rotting trees of District Ten roll into view. 

Everyone would be just waking up in the district. Orion Hale would be awake early, however. He would be the first one to console her about the loss of the two kids. He would try and do something to make her feel better. And then Lucy Stevens, she would probably clap her on the back for doing a good job because Brent was right. No district had won the previous year and got a runner-up the next. It was a massive accomplishment in Ten and was rarely celebrated. But even if it happened, which it never did, Juniper couldn't imagine anyone partying about it. Those two kids were dead and that was that. 

"So—" 

"Don't try and make small talk, Brent," Juniper quickly snapped. She was not in the mood to talk to Higgins. 

The male Victor sneered at her before silently sipping on his flask and glass. Juniper continued staring out of the window, fingertips fidgety. She needed to call Finnick. She had to tell him about the party and the Careers'. Juniper could still smell Gloss from One's intoxicating cologne that seemed to be doused all over him. She needed to tell Finnick about him. 

("Well, she survived so everything worked out..." Gloss's lips turned into a slight smile. Forced. "And we are the first sibling-duo Victors'.")

("Yes, it is good manners," Gloss said. "What a shame... so close, Juniper.")

The Hale girl clenched her jaw as she began to make a terrible mess of the stitching on the couch. It was beginning to fray everywhere and Juniper twirled her finger around a piece of fabric until her skin started to turn a bright red. She was going to call Finnick when she got home, possibly talk to her father, and then take a steaming hot shower. 

She liked boiling showers. Loved them, even. It provided her with the fact that she could feel, that she was not the heartless monster she was said to be and there was a lot of talk about that. The Capitol was buzzing whenever the cameras turned to look at Juniper, whether it was at the Tribute Parade, or the interviews, or during the Games. The cameras always managed to land on her and then they would show clips from last year. They played them over, and over, and over that if Juniper hadn't witnessed them in her nightmares, she could remember them off by heart. 

"Isn't that the girl who killed her twin?" People in the Capitol would always whisper.

"Juniper Hale, yeah!" The other person would scoff because how dare that person not know who the woman was. "She's the Victor of the Seventy-Second. The one that just snapped?"

"So, the twin-killer?"

The twin-killer. The one that just snapped. The Victor of the Seventy-Second Hunger Games. That was what Juniper Hale was known as. Not June, not the girl whose father worked at the Milking Station. A murderer. Vicious. No remorse. Cold-blooded. People even compared her and Johanna Mason together. 

At the thought of Johanna Mason, Juniper scoffed to herself as she tried to flatten the frayed stitching. The dislike for the Victor from Seven did not fade and nor did the dislike for the Victor from Ten. In fact, hatred coursed through their veins and the two girls did anything to avoid each other during the Games that year, even if Finnick Odair tried to introduce them. Johanna Mason was a little hard to swallow. She was too much like Juniper and since Juniper hated herself, she therefore hated Johanna.

(Turning a corner, Juniper suddenly bumped into someone harshly. Staggering back, still maintaining a grasp on her robe, she was about to scoff at the person, but when she focused her vision on who it was, Juniper blanched. Johanna Mason.)

"Oh, yippee." Brent groaned as suddenly, the train came to a stop. "We're home." 

Juniper ignored him as she got up from the couch, walking through the living area and the halls until she got to the door, which was open. The Hale girl inhaled the fresh air as she stood on the platform, feeling her joints aching as she stretched slightly. 

The train station and the platform itself was bare from any reporters and journalists. They probably wouldn't expect the Victors' to arrive at the district that early in the morning, the sky a mixture of a sorrowful grey and a cantaloupe orange. Owls were still hooting and no-one was around. Juniper sighed.

"Well... this is a lovely greeting." Brent winced as he stepped off of the train. In the dawn light, Juniper could see the dark patches under his eyes, his sunken cheeks, and the numb look from his addiction. 

"Would you like to have reporters scream at you?" Juniper asked as she began to walk to the stairs. The coldness of the morning caused her to wrap her cardigan tighter around her. 

"Ah, good point." 

Juniper rolled her eyes as she left the platform, beginning to walk into the mud as she headed into the district. She could hear it squelching underneath her boots and she tried to ignore it as she walked through the town. They weren't even any Peacekeepers' on guard. They would still be in the barracks, which was at the furthest end of the district, asleep. 

As she trudged through the dirt, seeing the Barn of Death in the distance, Juniper swallowed a lump in her throat. She didn't want to go home to Victors' Village. She didn't want to be greeted by Lucy Stevens nor her father, who was just starting to look at her again. She just wanted to call Finnick. He was the only person she wanted to talk to, the only person who would understand.

But she figured she wouldn't have to talk to anyone in the Village because as she swiftly entered the 'greenery' of it, no lights were on. Lucy's windows weren't open and the curtains weren't drawn. No smoke was emitting from any chimneys. Juniper sighed. No-one was awake, which was a good thing. She didn't want to talk to anyone. 

Heading towards her house, the Hale girl moved a pot plant and grabbed the keys underneath it. She struggled to open the door, but once she did, she snuck into the entrance hall. If her father was asleep, she wouldn't want to wake him. And so, she shrugged her cardigan off, slipping out of her boots as she walked further into the house. 

The kitchen was empty with some dirty plates in the sink. The dining room was absent with no sign of life. The television was on idle mode in the living area, a faint glow illuminating the room. The curtains were all snapped shut. No windows were open. Juniper clenched her jaw as she ran a rough hand through her hair. 

"You're back." 

Nearly jumping, the Hale girl turned around to see her father at the bottom of the stairs. He looked dishevelled, as if he had just woken up, with his hair a mess, deep patches etched underneath his eyes, and his pyjamas all creased. There seemed to be more grey strands in his locks than before. However, Orion watched Juniper with a certain caring look. It differed from the pained one he had given her months ago. 

"Yeah..." Juniper slowly nodded as she turned to face him fully. "Just then... did I wake you?" 

"Oh, no," he said as she walked closer to his daughter. He looked exhausted. "I woke up hours ago... how was it?" 

Juniper scoffed as she began to move into the kitchen, saying, "As good as it ever could be..."

"You didn't look too happy," Orion said. "They televised it. I saw you talking to that bloke from One." 

"Oh... right..." Juniper sighed. "Gloss." 

She got a glass from the cupboard and went over to the sink, holding it under the stream of water as she filled it up. She could feel her mouth going dry and she immediately downed the drink in one go, turning the tap off. Juniper sighed as she closed her eyes. 

"Why don't you get some sleep, June?" Orion asked as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "You look exhausted." 

"I need to make a phone call first." Juniper opened her eyes. "It won't be long."

"Okay." 

Orion stared at his daughter for a while before bringing her in for an embrace, holding her tight. The Hale girl could feel him shaking underneath her fingertips and before she could question it, her father let her go and disappeared. Juniper bit her lip as she sighed. 

She needed to call Finnick. She could worry about her father later. And so, walking out of the kitchen and into the entrance hall, going to the phone, Juniper picked up the receiver and pushed in the numbers that she had memorised after the Games. She then waited. She didn't even know if he would pick up and so, trying to calm her nerves, she tapped her fingers against the wood of the chest of drawers that leaned against the wall. 

Buzz. Tap. Buzz. Tap. Buzz. Tap.

"Hello?" 

Juniper smiled slightly at the sound of the familiar voice as she said, "Hope I'm not waking you, Odair." 

"Ah, June." Finnick sighed. Juniper felt her heart twist. The first time the man from Four had ever used that nickname, the girl felt herself go faint over and over, but she never had the soul to tell him not to call her that. And so, it just stuck. "Of course not, though I didn't think it was time for our daily check up."

"Because it isn't," Juniper told him. "I just got back." 

"Oh, from that party?"

"Yep." Juniper groaned. "You know, you really missed out. It was such a blast." 

"I hear sarcasm." Finnick chuckled. "How bad was it?" 

"Definitely not my most favourite party I've been to," Juniper told him. "But it was all right... they televised it, didn't you see?" 

"I did, but I had to turn it off when I saw Brutus's face," the man said. "You don't know those Careers', do you?" 

"Oh, yes I do." Juniper rolled her eyes. "That's why I'm calling you." 

"Oh, do tell." 

And so, the Hale girl told Finnick about how Haymitch described the four Careers' to her. Cashmere. Gloss. Brutus. Enobaria. And then she told him about her encounter with the man from One. As she did, the Victor from Four was silent as he listened. Juniper had found that he was a good listener and that he had grown accustomed to her rambling and knew to never interrupt her as she did. Therefore, as she spoke quickly, he took in as much information as he could.

"And then some woman came over and took him away." Juniper let out a big breath. "And then Haymitch came over again..." 

"I see..." Finnick murmured. "And he said all of that?" 

"Yes." 

Juniper could hear the crackles of Finnick's breaths as he responded, "Gloss tries to intimidate. He does it to every new Victor. He tries to find a way in, scare you." 

"But why?" Juniper scoffed. "There's no point in it." 

"There really isn't," Finnick said. "But he does it to have some power. He doesn't have a lot because Cashmere has a lot of control over him... and Haymitch is right. They aren't the humble type... except for Cashmere... she's all right." 

"She seems all right." Juniper shrugged. "But I don't know, Finnick... I just thought I should tell you."

"No, no, it's good that you did," Finnick hurriedly said. "Just stay away from Brutus, Enobaria, and Gloss. They'll be gloating about their win now." 

"Yeah..." 

Finnick seemed to notice the change in Juniper's voice as he then asked, "Are you all right, June? How are you coping?" 

"Coping?" Juniper scoffed. "Finnick, I'm fine. I don't need to cope."

"Are you sure? I know the first one is always the—" 

"I'm fine, I promise." 

Finnick sighed as Juniper heard him run a hand through his hair, but the man seemed to drop the subject as he went to go say something. But as he did, there was a faint voice in the background. 

A woman's. 

"Who the hell was that?" Juniper asked, furrowing her brows. 

"Who was what?" 

"That woman in the background?" 

"There is no woman in the background." 

"Odair, do you seriously have a secret girlfriend and you're not telling me?" 

A silence enveloped them. 

"... okay, look... I'm only going to tell you this because I trust you, but you can't tell anyone. If the Capitol finds out... well, I don't want them to abuse that." 

Juniper raised a brow. "Go on..." 

"It's... uh... Annie," Finnick said in a soft voice. "Annie Cresta." 

Annie Cresta. 

Juniper knew who Annie Cresta was. She had won three-four-years ago, the Seventieth. She was, except Juniper, the only known Victor to not participate in the post-Games interview and Victory Tour due to the fact she had witnessed her district partner get beheaded and suffered from a mental instability ever since, causing her to be house-ridden when she became Victor. The eighteen-year-old, at the time, only won due to an earthquake breaking a dam and being from District Four, she survived being the best swimmer. No-one had seen her since.

"Annie Cresta?" Juniper repeated. "That's Annie Cresta? Why is she in your house?" 

"Don't be dumb, June." 

Confusion washed over her, nearly drowning her until she suddenly let her lips part in realisation. Annie and Finnick. Finnick was with Annie Cresta, the crazy woman? Out of all his numerous lovers (customers) within the Capitol, all of the elegant women that fell to his knees, Finnick loved a madwoman back home in Four? 

"Oh... well, that's something I can't say I expected." 

"Don't tell anyone, June, I mean it," Finnick warned. His tone was deathly serious. "I can't have the Capitol knowing at all." 

"Yeah... no, no I understand." Juniper nodded. Finnick and Annie. "I mean — wow." 

"You sound shocked." 

"Because I am." The Hale girl nearly let out a laugh. "It's... I mean — are you happy?"

"Of course I am."

"That's... good. No, that's really good, Finnick, I'm happy for 'ya." Juniper smiled. Finnick and Annie. That was something she would never expect to hear. "And she's actually normal around you?" 

"Juniper." 

"Right... sorry, I take that back." Juniper winced. "How long?"

"It's coming up to a year." Finnick sighed. "You, Mags, and Johanna are the only ones that know so don't spill." 

"I won't. I promise, Finnick." 

An hour passed and finally, the two said their goodbyes and hung up. But while Juniper should have tried to sleep, feeling herself become exhausted, she was trying to figure out what Finnick had told her. 

Him and Annie. Annie and him. He could have any woman in the world and yet he chose Annie Cresta. But Juniper didn't know. She only knew what the Capitol portrayed her as. She could have been the most kind, forgiving person anyone could know. But Annie Cresta. Finnick Odair had fallen for a mad girl. 

However, Juniper smiled at that thought. It was much like Finnick to fall for her. As she thought about it more, it made much sense. He wouldn't want anyone fake, tacky, or in the Capitol. Finnick Odair would want someone real, someone who loved him for him. And Juniper knew Annie Cresta, despite being crazy, was that.

As she went up the stairs and turned into her bedroom, flopping onto the bed, she felt herself become giddy. Finnick Odair had a girl. He had fallen in love with Annie Cresta. Finnick Odair was in love. And Juniper figured that if there were anyone who deserved to be, it would be Finnick. The Hale girl smiled. It may not be something she expected, but it made sense. Finnick was in love. 

Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta were in love.